The University of Malta has secured euro 600,000 in funding to design and offer a new Masters degree in heat treatment and surface engineering, Rector Juanito Camilleri said yesterday.

Prof. Maurice Grech, Dean of the Faculty of the Engineering Department and project coordinator said the degree, which will be known as MinSE, has the backing of four partner universities.

These are the Technical Univeristy of Clausthal, Germany, the University of Miskolc, Hungary, the University of Birmingham, UK and the University of Petru Muresin, Romania. The project is also supported by six enterprises, including the commercial arm of the University of Malta’s Department of Metallurgy and Materials; Surface Engineering Ltd, SMEs from the UK and Romania and Bodycote, a multinational with over 270 branches worldwide.

The degree, designed over the next three years, will be structured on stand alone intensive modules each lasting two weeks. Prof. Grech said that industry will greatly benefit from this structure as employees can enrol for a single module and obtain a recognised certification.

The degree targets also international candidates seeking to further their studies and life-long learners.

Prof. Tom Bell, project evaluator and world authority on heat treatment and surface engineering, said that if machines and components were not treated they would not work or either function for a small span of time. Surface modifications may serve to improve corrosion and wear resistance, impact lubricity and non-stick properties.